Four defendants including a French national, a Beninese police officer and two other co-defendants were facing the judge of the Court of Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) on Thursday, February 16, 2023. They had been in pre-trial detention since 22 July 2022 in a case involving the establishment of visas for France.

A French man who pretended to be an agent on duty at the French consulate is accused of defrauding 6 Beninese in a case to issue visas for France. Indeed, with the help of three other accomplices, including a Beninese police officer, the Frenchman would have taken several million to issue visas to Beninese. The four accused for “passive influence, complicity in fraud and complicity in fraud via the Internet” were in court at the Court for the Suppression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET).

The lawyer for the main accused considers that the French national does not know the facts against him. He thus pleaded for pure and simple release because the three other defendants allegedly used the image of the Frenchman. In addition, the Public Prosecutor requested 05 years in prison, including 02 farms, and a fine of 500,000 FCFA against each of the defendants.